Streaming media sessions have become commonplace over modern broadband networks. The content in streaming media sessions may be user-generated, and not commercially valuable, or may be commercially valuable content, also called premium content. For a streaming media source to obtain rights to premium content, payment is usually required. Some streaming media sources may recoup their investment in content by selling advertisements embedded in the content. These advertisements are substantially less valuable if the end user can skip them, or fast forward through them. These actions are generically called trickplay actions. This invention relates to systems and methods to control trickplay activity.
Streaming video sessions can be playlist based. That is, when a viewer requests a video session, the video delivery system constructs a new playlist with advertisements and segments of entertainment content. Each segment in a playlist can be identified as a clip. Clips can include segments of video files and can be created when the playlist is created. The clips and the underlying playlist can be destroyed when the streaming video session ends. However, these constructs do not address mechanisms to control trickplay operations during the streaming video sessions.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.